Lithium-ion batteries have been developed for several decades. Different from traditional lead acidic or zinc manganese batteries, the lithium-ion batteries are using non-aqueous electrolyte solutions. With the development of lithium-ion batteries, various materials have been used as electrodes and electrolytes. For example, the materials of positive electrodes involve different transition metallic oxides, such as LiCoO2, LiNiO2, LiMn2O4, LiFePO4, LiV2O5 and their combinations. The main materials of negative electrodes are still carbon family, including mesophase carbon micro beads (MCMB), artificial graphite, carbon coated natural graphite, graphene, silicon, and metallic alloys. Although lots of electrolytes are currently developed to the lithium-ion batteries, the most popular electrolytes are still LiPF6, LiClO4, LiBF4, etc., combined with some carbonate solvents such as propylene carbonate (PC) and ethylene carbonate (EC). In addition, other materials, such as separates, additives, and flame retardants, have been used to enhance properties and safety of the lithium-ion batteries.
Owing to their high energy density and environmental friendship, the lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) have replaced nickel-metalhydride (Ni-MH) and nickel-cadmium (Ni—Cd) secondary batteries to be applied in different areas, from cell phones, laptop computers to electric vehicles. In contrast to their extensive investigations and applications, the lithium-ion batteries show much less selections in their shapes and structures. Fundamentally, there are button styles, planar, cylindrical and cuboids shapes. With the development of thin film coating technologies and applications of solid electrolytes, thin film and flexible lithium-ion batteries have attracted more and more attentions. In particular, some flexible electronics such as flexible flat panel displays may require flexible lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, the flexible lithium-ion batteries have attracted significant attention in recent years. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,552,239 and 5,478,668 described large capacity rechargeable lithium-ion batteries with folded or rolled structure to obtain rectangular or cylindrical shapes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,489 also disclosed a lithium-ion battery constructed of lithium-ion containing folded and stacked electrochemical cells which have a folded continuous, flexible lithium-ion containing polymer laminate electrolyte sandwiched between first and second polarity lithium containing discrete electrode plates.
A flexible thin planar lithium-ion battery may be laminated with different materials. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,668, it comprised an electrically conductive collector foil or grid, such as copper, nickel, nickel plated metal, or high-nickel stainless steel, upon which is laid a negative electrode membrane comprising an intercalatable material, such as carbon or graphite, or a low voltage lithium insertion compound, such as WO2, MoO2, or Al, dispersed in a plasticized polymeric binder matrix. An electrolyte/separator film of plasticized VdF:HFP copolymer was positioned upon electrode element and covered with a positive electrode membrane comprising a composition of a finely divided lithium intercalation compound, such as LiMn2O4, LiCoO2, or LiNiO2, in a plasticized polymeric binder matrix. An aluminum collector foil or grid completed the assembly which was then pressed between plates under heat and pressure to soften and bond the polymeric compounds and laminate the membrane and collector layers. It may require some special laminating materials to avoid moisture or O2 invasion, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,856. The prior art of U.S. Pat. No. 6,828,065 disclosed that the carbon anode was laminated or coated in a very thin film on both sides of copper metalized polymer (e.g., PET) material. The similar structure was applied to the cathode that might be coated onto an aluminum current collector. An insulator sheet and a metalized PET current collector complete the assembly to laminate the lithium-ion battery.
A desirable rechargeable lithium-ion battery is expected to have high energy density, fast charging capability, and long lifetime. The batteries disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,498,489, 5,478,668 and 6,828,065 were laminated and packed with folded or rolled shapes to increase the capacity of the batteries in limited sizes. However, it may lose the flexibility of the batteries. In some other embodiments of the previous inventions, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,475,954, flexible, multi-voltage battery modules had multiple cells that were nested together to enhance the energy density. In these embodiments, cylindrical lithium-ion cells were placed in a housing or case with interlocking tabs that allowed multiple modules to be connected together. Within a module, the cells could be connected in different configurations by buss bars at the top and the bottom of the battery cells.
The present invention provides a flexible solid-state multiple-stacked planar rechargeable lithium-ion battery module. It is thin and flat to be hanged in the wall and carried outdoor in a roll. Multiple-stacked planar lithium-ion battery cells are coated layers by layers and laminated within moisture and O2 resistant plasticized polymers. The multiple-stacked battery cell planes are combined into many battery sections of multiple-stacked electrochemical cell groups which are interconnected in series or in parallel according to requirement of the output voltages and powers. These multiple-stacked lithium-ion battery groups can be freely combined and controlled with switches and programmable logic circuit (PLC) to adjust the input/output voltages and currents. This rechargeable planar lithium-ion battery module can be quickly charged because every group of the multiple-stacked electrochemical cells possesses limited electroactive materials and internal resistances. Furthermore, the presently invented lithium-ion battery module can be remotely controlled.